All nodes on the Internet are identified by IP addresses. Unfortunately, due to the limited public IP address pool that is available, and to administrative and maintenance requirements, it is often not possible to allocate a static IP address to a user. Instead, a user may, for example, receive a different IP address for each Internet access session.
This can cause problems in identifying an end user on an intranet or on the Internet.
Various solutions to this problem have been provided, such as DDNS (Dynamic Domain Name System), which uses dynamic mapping of hostnames to IP addresses, X503 client certificates, which have user information embedded within them, and even simple user login authentications.
These solutions, however, have their own limitations, such as additional client software support requirements and a dependency on end users to initiate communication.
An aim of the present invention is to provide a network system that facilitates the identification of an end user. Although the present invention may provide an alternative to the above-mentioned solutions, it need not be mutually exclusive with them.
The present invention is also particularly, though not exclusively, useful in respect of computer systems as described in International Patent Application PCT/SG00/00107, filed on 17 Aug. 2000, and the U.S. National Entry therefrom, Application Serial No. 10/344,784, filed Feb. 13, 2003, both entitled “Reconfigurable Computer Networks,” the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.